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29 Mar 2018
by Rebecca Patton

At a glance: reward and benefits headlines this week 23-28 March 2018

Your quick-read round up of the reward and benefits stories appearing in the press in the past seven days.

The headlines you might have missed between 23-28 March.

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Norton Rose pays female partners 17% less an hour
The Lawyer: Norton Rose Fulbright's female partners in the UK are paid 17 per cent less in median hourly pay than male partners at the firm, the latest gender pay gap data has shown. Read story

82% view workplace pension as an important benefit
Employee Benefits: More than three-fifths (82%) of respondents cite their workplace pension scheme as an important employee benefit, according to research by Jobsite. Read story

22% blame high employee absence rates on lack of health and wellbeing initiatives
Employee Benefits: More than two-fifths (22%) of employer respondents believe that their employee absence rates are higher than other organisations because they do not have health and wellbeing initiatives in place, according to research by Group Risk Development (Grid). Read story

Sky reports an 11.5% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Telecommunications organisation Sky has reported an 11.5% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay across its five legal entities. Read story

Investment consultants fail to add value in product recommendations, says CMA
Professional Pensions: Investment consultants are failing to recommend products that outperform net of fees, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said as its investigation into the market continues. Read story

Gift Cards For Corporate Incentives ‘Soaring In Popularity’
Incentive and Motivation: The study suggests that this is driven by the proposition than they are more effective than cash for awarding achievers in organizations, offering the flexibility and versatility of cash, along with the ease of use. Read story

Case Study: Burns Pet Nutrition's High Employee Retention Rates
Reward: Burns Pet Nutrition is an award-winning pet food business based in West Wales with an impressive reward and benefits strategy that has improved the employee retention rate. Read story

PwC and KPMG release updated gender pay gap figures
Personnel Today: The two remaining ‘big four’ accountancy firms have released pay gap figures after Deloitte and EY announced theirs earlier this month. The numbers reveal that PwC has marginally the widest gap. Read story

Quarter of bosses don’t know AE contributions are increasing
Corporate Adviser: More than a quarter of senior business decision makers are unaware that automatic enrolment minimum contributions are increasing on 6 April and almost half do not know how much they are increasing by, according to research. Read story

Nearly half of employees ‘overwhelmed’ with workload
Incentive and Motivation: Almost half of UK workers (47 per cent) spend the majority of their time feeling overwhelmed by their workloads, while 85 per cent say that work is causing them stress, according to research from employee experience company Qualtrics. Read story

The Health Insurance Group staff trained by Mind
Cover: Management team mentored by charity on mental wellbeing in the workplace. Read story

Thomas Cook to give cabin crew two-year pay deal
Employee Benefits: Thomas Cook is to give more than 2,000 cabin crew employees who are members of the trade union Unite a two-year pay deal. Read story

77% of employers view workplace pension as an important benefit
Employee Benefits: More than three-quarters (77%) of employer respondents believe a workplace pension is an important employee benefit, according to research by Royal London. Read story 

Shadow minister: The white paper has been a long time coming and is a missed opportunity
Professional Pensions: Jack Dromey MP says the government had an opportunity to properly tackle the widespread problems facing DB schemes. Read story

USS seeks valuation delay while independent panel convenes
Professional Pensions: Members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) have been sent a revised offer pledging to maintain current benefits alongside existing contribution levels until April next year. Read story

Burges Salmon reveals 35% gender pay gap
The Lawyer: Burges Salmon has a median pay gap of 35 per cent, while on average women receive 23 per cent less than men. Read story

TPR unveils master trust code of practice for consultation
Professional Pensions: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published for consultation its draft code of practice for authorising and supervising master trusts. Read story

Workplace pension saving rate hits 73% as AE staging concludes
Professional Pensions: Nearly three-quarters of workers were saving into a workplace pension scheme as of April last year, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows. Read story

FCA publishes changes to pension transfer advice
Employee Benefits: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published new rules on pension transfer advice requiring that individuals’ specific circumstances are taken into consideration. Read story

Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes final gender pay gap enforcement action
Employee Benefits: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published its final report detailing the procedures for enforcement action relating to the gender pay gap reporting regulations. Read story

The Pensions Regulator launches consultation on master trust authorisation
Employee Benefits: The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has launched a consultation on the proposed authorisation process for master trust pension schemes. Read story

Fletchers Solicitors Mental Wellbeing Strategy
Reward: Support from leadership is vital in order for any wellbeing initiative to be successful and Fletchers Solicitors are a shining example of that. Read story

Biggest gender pay gap in UK media revealed
HR Grapevine: As firms start to publish data about their gender pay gaps under a Government push, media companies have a lot to answer for. Read story

Younger staff ‘don’t know how pensions work’
Personnel Today: Employees, especially younger staff, do not understand their pensions and could be putting their financial wellbeing at risk. Ashleigh Wight reports. Read story

Gender pay gap reporting: the statistics so far
People Management: What does the data that has already been published tell us, and how can employers use this information? Hannah Netherton reports. Read story

Nortel scheme to exit PPF assessment with £550m to boost benefits
Professional Pensions: The Nortel Networks UK Pension Scheme will boost benefits for members and leave Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment, nine years after the collapse of the US-based telecommunications company. Read story

Mercer reports a 32.3% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Global consulting organisation Mercer has reported a 32.3% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay. Read story

Willis Towers Watson reports a 38.9% mean gender pay gap
Employee Benefits: Global advisory and broking organisation Willis Towers Watson has reported a 38.9% mean gender pay gap for fixed hourly pay as at April 2017. Read story

DPD to give delivery drivers paid leave, pension and sick pay in new worker contract
Employee Benefits: Parcel delivery organisation DPD is to give its delivery drivers paid annual leave, pension entitlement and sick pay under a new self-employed worker contract. Read story

More than half of all UK employees are unhappy in the workplace
Incentive and Motivation: Research published today by employee benefits provider Personal Group, shows that 56% of all people surveyed are not happy in the workplace. The research is part of Personal Group’s Hapi survey, which used social media to ask 1274 UK employees about their happiness at work. The results paint a clear picture of the state of happiness in UK workplace. Read story

Mental health ‘a priority’, say CEOs, yet only one in six has a clear strategy
Personnel Today: Nearly two-thirds (60%) of UK chief executives identify employee mental health as a priority, yet just one in six (16%) employers has a defined mental health strategy, a study has suggested. Read story

Alan Morahan: How can employers improve pension engagement?
Cover: With auto-enrolment pension contributions rising, Punter Southall Aspire's Alan Morahan looks into how employers can ensure employees don't opt out. Read story

Claire Trott: How Scottish tax reform impacts pensions
Money Marketing: New income tax rates are causing discrepancies between pension schemes. Read story